Despite a season that has been far less than perfect, Timothy Peters has quietly emerged as a legitimate contender for the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title.

Now the question is whether the Red Horse Racing driver can make good on the opportunity.

As truck series drivers prepare for Saturday's VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway, Peters is looking to further position himself for a possible championship run.

The Providence, N.C., native has made steady gains in recent weeks, moving from seventh to fourth in points over the last four races. Peters finished no worse than 11th over that stretch, with a victory at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis and a third-place outing at Nashville.

Up next is Michigan, a track where Peters finished sixth a year ago and eighth in 2009.

"Michigan is such a crapshoot. The draft is really big there," Peters said. "It's just kind of which lane do you pick and choose and how you set up for that other truck in front of you with the draft. It's definitely going to be an interesting race."

Just 11 races remain on the 2011 schedule, and Peters trails series leader Austin Dillon by 23 points.

"I think that we can outrun (the top three) straight up with our Crescent Hand Tools Toyota but at the same time, too, it's racing," Peters said. "They're going to have to have a little bit of bad luck."

Peters' win at LOR, which he followed with a 10th-place finish two weeks ago at Pocono, was huge for the driver and the entire Red Horse organization.

In addition to helping Peters creep back into the title picture, the victory snapped a 36-race drought dating back to last year's season opener at Daytona. It also proved that Peters and his No. 17 team are returning to top form after a difficult stretch in which they finished no better than 14th over five starts from late May to early July.

Peters' title hopes got another boost last week when NASCAR penalized championship rival Johnny Sauter six points after the right rear of his truck was too high at Pocono.

With the penalty, Sauter dropped to second in the standings, one point behind Dillon. Peters, who trails third-place James Buescher by nine points, also inched closer to the lead.

"You hate to see bad luck on anyone but I guess that's why they call it racing," Peters said of the Sauter penalty. "I just wish that we could have finished a little bit better at Pocono to maybe be a little closer in striking distance, but our team works very hard and we've got great resources here at Red Horse and Toyota. I don't ever wish no bad luck on anybody, but I feel like we've had our share of bad luck and it's kind of somebody else's turn."